The invention concerns an apparatus for the thermal regeneration of loaded adsorbents with the aid of a hot solid heat carrier, consisting of a container, the head of which is provided with feed pipes for the adsorbent and the heat carrier and the bottom of which displays a discharge device.
An apparatus of that kind is used for the process according to the German Pat. No. 1719554. This process is used for the thermal regeneration of activated carbon or activated coke gas granulate from the flue gas desulphurization, where sand in a granulation of less than 1 millimeter is used as heat carrier. The solid material mixture consisting of the adsorbent and the hot sand travels through the container continuously as travelling bed. Although this regeneration entails the advantage that the expelled desorption gas is not polluted by foreign gas, it presents certain difficulties to mix the sand and the adsorbents homogeneously and to attain a good heat transfer.
Although the heat transfer is better in the thermal regeneration of adsorbents in a stationary layer, a travelling layer or an eddy layer by conducting hot gases therethrough, the desorption gas is diluted by the hot gas component.
The present invention, therefore, turns to the regeneration with the aid of a solid heat carrier. It has the object of further developing an apparatus of the initially mentioned kind in such a manner that the heat transfer from the heat carrier to the adsorbent is increased and the intermixing of the two components is improved.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the foregoing character which is substantially simple in construction and may be economically fabricated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an installation, as described, which may be readily maintained in service and which has a substantially long operating life.